Tag: Books of the Year

Looking Around….

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, Books, Uncategorized17 Comments

For my last retrospective post I like to have a look around the blogosphere and see the books which have impressed other bloggers during the last twelve months. One of the most striking aspect this year compared to the last few is that there is a bit more consensus with some books appearing a few times.  Reading lists of people’s favourites is always a joy to me. 

Mid-way through the year I succumbed and signed up to Instagram where I am posting as @phil.reviews.  Publishers seem to like a social media presence and I have been using mine to drive readers to this blog site.  This does seemed to have worked as compared to last year there has been a 33% rise in the number of visitors.  This seems especially heartening in the world of vlogs, TikTok, podcasts etc (although don’t count me out from exploring these avenues in the future) that people are prepared to read about books and visit sites such as www.reviewsrevues.com.  I must admit I get far more pleasure preparing posts for this than the photo+sentence setup of Instagram.  However, whilst looking around I have been using Instagram posts as well as bloggers.  I can’t really get much of a feel of what they actually liked about the books they recommended in most cases but their presence in their end-of-year rundowns certainly mean something.   Where I’m referencing an Instagram account I’ve used the @link, for bloggers there is a link connected to the name of the site that should take you to them should you wish to find out more, and I hope you do. 

My book of the year for this year is “The Bee Sting” by Paul Murray and I was delighted to see it in a Top 5 at 746 Books.  Cathy has three lists to recognise books from her shelves, new books and Irish authors.  I would imagine that the Irish authors list was even more demanding this year as so much good writing is coming from there (I had four Irish authors in my Top 10).  Cathy described “The Bee Sting” as a “fantastic, immersive read, sad and funny in equal measure.”  I totally agree.  To show we are not always of the same opinion she also includes “This Plague Of Souls” by Mike McCormack in her list, a title which left me cold, but she does acknowledge that its “strange and elusive narrative” will divide readers.  I’m afraid I was on the other side of the divide on this.  Another book which she praises on her new titles list is “The Shards” by Bret Easton Ellis, whose books I have enjoyed in the distant past but who is acknowledged to have lost his way somewhat in recent years.  This book with its detached view of 80s pop culture is being seen as a return to form and seeing it praised here reminded me that The Guardian had mentioned that this was the book he was born to write.  “The Bee Sting” also made it onto lists by @fictionmatters and at #8 for @benreadsgood  and 7th place in the Top 10 of @Nicky-reads-stuff (where top book was “Close To Home” by Michael Magee which was shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Prize and won the Rooney Prize for Literature and Waterstones Irish Book Of  The Year and is certainly on my reading radar for 2024).

Talking of the Waterstones Debut Prize, the winner “In Memoriam” by Alice Winn was heralded by Bookish Beck who delightfully describe it as “Heartstopper On The Western Front” and @bookish_lizzy and although she’s not confirmed it was probably the best book of the year for my good friend Louise who has recommended so many books to me (although I think I was first with this one!) Another Waterstones short- listed debut made it to number 7 on my Top 10, “Fire Rush” by Jacqueline Crooks also loved by @bookish-lizzy, @books.with.boo and caused a dilemma for @sowhat_books who couldn’t decide and who had to give a joint first place to this alongside “The Living Sea Of Waking Dreams” by Richard Flanagan.  My #3 book Louise Kennedy’s “Trespasses” made it onto a number of lists last year when it really came to my attention and this year found favour with Jen at Books on the 7.47 who like me was really impressed by the characters accepting whatever was thrown at them (bombs/army raids etc) saying “They take it all as it comes” which was a lasting impression I also took away from this book.

Another top 10 title which attracted a lot of attention from bloggers was my number 8 the debut novel from Stig Abell “Death Under A Little Sky”.  FictionFan’s Book Reviews  had it top of her best modern crime fiction winner, I said in my round up that it was the best contemporary crime novel I’d read all year so great to see agreement there.  She said of this “I found it completely absorbing, savouring ever lovely descriptions of the natural world and every layer of characterisation.”  Lynne at Fictionphile also had it on her list describing it as a “truly delightful and well-written read.”  She also singled out a title on my last year’s list “The Queen Of Dirt Island” by Donal Ryan as it is “skillfully written with beautiful prose that at times had an almost musical cadence”.

Also on my list last year but only because I couldn’t wait to praise it as it was not published until 2023 was “The New Life” by Tom Crewe (I had it at number 6) Bookish Beck acknowledged that it was her Book Of The Year (if she was made to choose one).  I couldn’t find any other takers for John Boyne’s “Water” (my #9)- maybe that will change when it comes out in paperback but his back catalogue still continues to fare well with Australian Instagrammer @thebookninja_ having a former Top 10 book for me (#4 in 2018) “A Ladder To The Sky” as their favourite read with his “All The Broken Places” topping the sequel/prequel category, @books.with.boo had one of my all time favourites “The Hearts Invisible Furies” (my #1 in 2017 and the book I recommend more than any other) in their list together with my Top book from last year “Young Mungo” by Douglas Stuart (also in the backlist titles list of @mrd_reads.)

A writer who was all over Instagram earlier on in 2023 was Rebecca F. Kuang with her latest “Yellow Face” which was the Foyles Book Of The Year and featured in my What I Should Have Read list.  This book must have given her back catalogue a boost as recommendations seem to be quite evenly spread between this (@flashes.of.fiction had it at #3, @booksta_dan at #4 and her previous novel “Babel” (#1 for @booksta_dan and recommendations from @onechapteraday.ph and @books.with.boo)

Books that I know I should have read in 2023 (see my post for more info on these) were praised – Chris Van Tulleken’s “Ultra-Processed People” was described by Margaret at Books Please as being “absolutely fascinating and a real eye-opener“, @od1_40reads had  Diarmuid Hester’s “Nothing Ever Just Disappears” at number 4 and Justin Torres’ “Blackouts” at joint number 1 on his Queer Reads list, the latter also making number 6 for @benreadsgood. And there were mentions for the poptastic “Reach For The Stars” a study of 90s pop music by Michael Cragg from Books on 7.47 on her Non-Fiction list, a #5 read for @nicky-reads-stuff.

As well as looking for titles I’ve also enjoyed one of the delights of going through these lists is to find out what you’ve missed.  One title that seemed to keep reminding me of its presence was “Strange Sally Diamond” by Liz Nugent.  Books On The 7.47 had it in her Crime Top 3 praising its “highly memorable lead character” and called it “ a strong psychological thriller with sinister undertones.” Novel Deelights said it was “unnerving, unsettling, often entirely uncomfortable, but oh so incredibly good.” Fictionphile went further to name it “one of the darkest thrillers I have ever read”.  It was the favourite thriller of @thebookninja_.  I am definitely going to be seeking this out this year.  I’m also highlighting “Return To Valetto” by Dominic Smith, a recommendation from Australian blogger Kim at Reading Matters who has lured me in with her “Past and present collide in this intricately woven novel set in a near-abandoned Italian village perched on a rocky outcrop in Umbria“.  She said it set her off on a search to find out more about Italy in World War II.

And now for some Books Of The Year.  FictionFan’s Book Reviews reminded me of “Ragtime” by E L Doctorow, which I have read a couple of times, firstly in the late 70s/early 80s when I absolutely loved it and last time in 2011 when it didn’t make such an impression.  Maybe it’s time to have a decider read – I’m being won over by the description of it as “In his story is all the howl of rage that still reverberated a hundred years on from the setting and fifty years after this book was published.” My Mashed Up Life opted for Erin Morgenstern’s 2019 novel “The Starless Sea” “bursting with a love of storytelling, a wondrous sense of adventure and mysterious magic.”  Linda’s Book Bag had me looking up her choice “When I First Held You” by Anstey Harris as did Fictionphile’s top of the pile read “No Two Persons” by Erica Bauermeister, which is a book about a book perfect for book lovers.  I’m not sure I’ll ever get around to Samantha Shannon but her latest “Day Of Fallen Night” certainly did it for @flashes.of.fiction and @booksta_dan (both of whom recommended titles which suggest we are not too far apart reading-wise).  “Soldier, Sailor” by Claire Kilroy, “Demon Copperhead “ by Barbara Kingsolver, “Romantic Comedy” by Curtis Sittenfeld were three more titles I saw pop up a few times. 

Anyway, I think that’s enough of looking back to 2023 and start to get on with the reading joys 2024 has in store.  Just want to thank these other bloggers and Instagrammers for keeping up the good work.  Long may it continue!

Top 10 Books Of The Year 2023 – Part Two- The Top 5

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, Books, Uncategorized2 Comments

Here we go then with my five favourite books I read in 2023:

5. The Story Of The Night – Colm Toibin (Picador 1996)

Read and reviewed in December

The second of the Irish writers in my Top 10. I have not read any Colm Toibin before and I now know what I have been missing out on. His third novel is a haunting, quiet work set in Argentina in the 1980s with a gay man trying to find personal and professional connections at a time of war with England and with the shadow of AIDS hovering. This year Picador re-published this as part of its Picador Collection, a set of contemporary classics celebrating 50 years of the publishing house. Still not sure of the significance of the title though.

4. Forever Amber- Kathleen Winsor (Penguin 1944)

Read and reviewed in November

November seemed just the time for a big chunky paperback I could really lose myself in and forget about the advance of winter. This is what many people did at the time this appeared as this supreme slab of escapism was reputedly the biggest selling novel of the 1940s. At 972 pages it is half the length of the version this first- time author submitted to publishers. I can’t imagine what was cut as this is a total bodice-ripper of Restoration excess powered by the machinations of main character Amber St. Clare amidst real-life depictions of Charles II and his mistresses the Countess of Castlemaine and Nell Gwynn. It’s written with so much energy it completely won me over. I loved the combination of the serious well-researched historical novel approach and the tacky sensationalism.

3. Trespasses – Louise Kennedy (Bloomsbury 2022)

(Read in April, reviewed in May)

Irish writer number 3 and I knew I had to read this when it won Novel Of The Year at the 2022 An Post Irish Book Awards beating Donal Ryan’s “The Queen Of Dirt Island” which made it into my Top 10 last year. The critical appreciation kept coming- It joined “Fire Rush” onto the Women’s Fiction Prize shortlist in 2023, having already made the Waterstones Debut shortlist in 2022 and topped The Times bestsellers chart. Set in Northern Ireland in 1974 this is a tale of a Catholic Primary school teacher who works part-time in her family’s pub who falls for one of the customers, an older Protestant barrister. I said “with a lot of attention to domestic detail the author humanises a world which seemed so alien to those of us who were around then watching the horrors of daily news bulletins in the UK at the height of The Troubles.” It is all done magnificently.

2. The Miniaturist – Jessie Burton (Picador 2014)

(Read and reviewed in September)

It was one of the reading year surprises for me that this book which had sat on my bookshelves unread for a few years could give me so much pleasure. I really do not know why I was so late getting round to it. At the time it won Waterstones Book Of The Year and a Specsavers National Book Award so it’s not as if I wasn’t aware of it. An absolute gem of a historical novel set in seventeenth century Amsterdam featuring fish-out-of- water Nella finding her place amongst a group of other fish-out-of waters. Her new, often absent husband buys her a doll’s house to help pass the time and to allow her to take control of a less intimidating environment than the one she finds herself living in. Nella enlists the help of a miniaturist to furnish the house and things get somewhat strange. It’s an example of excellent story-telling, characters you really care about and a great sense of location. There’s an edginess which provides a much darker experience than I had expected and which I loved. I’ve not read Jessie Burton before but on the strength of this debut I will be exploring more of her work in 2024.

1. The Bee Sting – Paul Murray (Hamish Hamilton 2023)

Read and reviewed in November

I had a very strong suspicion I was going to love this. I can’t remember the last time I went into a bookshop and bought a hardback copy at full price. I just couldn’t wait any longer. Paul Murray the 4th Irish author in my Top 10 had just missed out on being my Book Of The Year with his previous novel “The Mark And The Void” eight years earlier. This not only won Novel Of The Year at the Irish Book Awards (as “Trespasses” did the previous year) it also got the overall Book Of The Year title and I for one was very surprised when it missed out on the Booker Prize, especially as it seemed to be the most favoured book on the shortlist (especially on Instagram). This is all over the Books Of The Year lists in Ireland, over here and in the US. Lit Hub breaks down the number of mentions in American publications and it appeared in 14 out of 62 lists (Top of the list was James McBride’s “The Heaven And Earth Grocery Store” which made it onto 20, which suggests that this is a title I should seek out in 2024). It was recognised by, amongst many others The Sunday Times, The Observer, Guardian, Washington Post, New York Times, Daily Mail, The Independent, The Times, The Oldie and The Economist suggesting a broad appeal. Over 600+ pages we meet the dysfuntional Barnes family and examine where it all started to go wrong for them. It’s so rich and rounded and yet, it’s not perfect. There were some stylistic choices the author made which seemed a little questionable but it still managed to eclipse everything else I read this year and with fifteen five star books that is some achievement. Irish writing just seems to be great at the moment. This is the first time since 2017 that I’ve put them at the very top but there were another four books (three in the Top 10 and one special mention) that also demonstrated the quality of what has been coming out of Ireland the last 25 years or so.

Just for some context here are my other top titles for the last fifteen years

2023- The Bee Sting – Paul Murray (2023) (Ireland)

2022- Young Mungo – Douglas Stuart (2022) (UK)

2021- Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart (2020) (UK)

2020 – The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai (2018) (USA)

2019 – Swan Song – Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (2018) (USA)

2018- The Count Of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (1845) (France)

2017 – The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne (2017) (Ireland)

2016- Joe Speedboat – Tommy Wieringa (2016) (Netherlands)

2015- Alone In Berlin- Hans Fallada (2009 translation of a 1947 novel) (Germany)

2014- The Wanderers – Richard Price (1974) (USA)

2013- The Secrets Of The Chess Machine – Robert Lohr (2007) (Germany)

2012 – The Book Of Human Skin – Michelle Lovric (2010) (UK)

2011 – The Help- Kathryn Stockett (2009) (USA)

2010- The Disco Files 1973-78 – Vince Aletti (1998) (USA)

2009- Tokyo – Mo Hayder (2004) (UK)

2008- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (2007) (Australia)

Special mentions for the five 5* reads which did not make it into the Top 10. Maybe I should start having a Top 15 : William – An Englishman – Cicely Hamilton (1919), Sparrow – James Hynes (2023), Small Joys – Elvin James Mensah (2023), A Keeper – Graham Norton (2018), Supreme Faith – Mary Wilson (1990)

Here’s to some great reading in 2024.

If you missed out on the other books on my Top 10 you can read about them here.

Top 10 Books Of The Year 2023- Part One (10-6)

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, Books3 Comments

It’s that time of year again. I read 73 books in 2024, 7 of these were not-yet-ready for publication titles to provide authors with feedback on their drafts so couldn’t count them towards my Good Reads goal of 70. So, although Good Reads thinks I didn’t make my goal I actually did and that is the first time ever I’ve done so. There’s an exact same number of five star ratings as last year – 15, but with 12 more books read than in 2022 it is even harder for a title to make the Top 10. As always, if I’ve read it this year it is included even if published in a previous year. This year the titles span from 1944-2023 with a pretty impressive 50% being books published in 2023.

73 books -that’s fifteen 5 star ratings (around 20% of titles read), 46 at 4*, 11 at 3* and just the one 2* for Tobias Smollett who won’t worry about it too much seeing as he died 252 years ago. 65 of these books have been reviewed on the site and they can be found by scrolling through or using one of the two indexes. I’ve let you know when they first appeared on here. I haven’t reviewed the incomplete titles I have been giving feedback on and there is another title which I am waiting to closer to the publication date in January (which hasn’t made it into the list) . There is only one non-fiction title in my Top 10 this year representing the 15 non-fiction titles I read. There’s a 60-40 gender split in favour of the men this time round, 50% were debut novels and just two authors have been on my end of year list before. It’s also been a great year for the Irish, which seems to mirror what has happened in the publishing world anyway this year with many top-rated titles coming from Irish authors and Paul Lynch winning the Booker Prize with a book I haven’t yet read. 

Here is the first part of the list 10-6. If you would like to read the full reviews (and I hope you do as these are the books I most want to point out to you) just click on the title

10. Luther: The Life and Longing Of Luther Vandross- Craig Seymour (Independently published 2014)

(Read in October, reviewed in November)

I’m starting off with the non-fiction pick of the year and this is the first time ever an independently published book has made my list. This is a revised edition of a book which Harper Collins put out in 2004 when the subject was still alive. The author fully reworked things ten years later to reflect the loss and legacy of one of the finest ever song stylists and R&B legend. This is the version I’m recommending. I found it as an e-book on Amazon. Luther Vandross (1951-2005) was notoriously private and there is a lot about him which we will probably never know but the author has an impressive go at bringing what made him special to life. I said of this title, that; “on sheer readability, thoroughness (while keeping to the facts) and entertainment value alone merits my top rating (a view shared by an impressive 73% of 682 ratings on Amazon.)” So, not the easiest book to find on the list but one that readers have certainly found rewarding. I did think long and hard as there were at least another three titles I could have put in this number 10 slot but after much reflection this is the most deserving. I do know people who have read this because of my recommendation and I think it’s important to not always to seek out the books with the big promotional budgets behind them.

9. Water- John Boyne (Doubleday 2023)

(Read and reviewed in October). 

Certainly no stranger to my end of year list is former Book Of The Year winner John Boyne. This is his fifth appearance, he was at the very top in 2017 with “The Heart’s Invisible Furies“, 2nd in 2018 with his 2015 modern classic “The Boy With The Striped Pyjamas” at number 4 the same year with “A Ladder To The Sky” and 5th in 2021 with “The Echo Chamber“. I’ve now read 9 of his books and rated 6 of them five stars so definitely up there amongst my all-time favourite authors. This is a 176 page short novel and is probably the shortest book to make it into my Top 10 ever. It’s the first of a projected quartet which will contain “Earth” (out in May), “Air” & “Fire”. It challenged everything I seem to always gripe on about when I’m reading short fiction and is “packed with character development, plot twists and a delight in story-telling“. It’s a tale of a woman in her 50s arriving on a sparsely populated Irish island and changing her identity.  With still a number of his back catalogue and these projected titles to read I am sure that this will not be this Irish writer’s last appearance on these lists.

8. Death Under A Little Sky- Stig Abell (Harper Collins 2023)

(Read in March, reviewed in April)

This was the best contemporary crime novel I read this year. A debut from a writer who has excelled in other literary forms and whose love of the genre persuaded him to have a go. In doing so, he’s written his own little crime classic which clearly demonstrates his awareness and devotion to such fiction. Like the main character in John Boyne’s “Water” Stig Abell’s protagonist Jake Jackson is going it alone to an isolated house in the middle of nowhere inherited from an uncle where he will eschew his former career and modern technology in favour of a library full of detective fiction. But events dictate otherwise. I said of this “Stig Abell knows exactly what he is doing here- his love and absorption of crime novels and his years of professional analysis of literary works is so evident and has resulted in this first-class example“. This book will appear in paperback at the end of February and the second in the series “Death In A Lonely Place” is published in April 2024.

7. Fire Rush – Jacqueline Crooks (Jonathan Cape 2023)

Read and reviewed in February

Another debut and one which arrived with a bang ending up with shortlist nods for Waterstone’s Best Debut and Women’s Prize for Fiction. It has appeared on many end of year lists and although it may not be for everyone I fell in love with the authors confidence, lyricism and the rhythms of dub reggae. Written in three sections beginning in late 1970s South London moving to Bristol and then Jamaica with main character Yamaye trying to find her place in the world. It has an involving plot and strong characterisation with a language which is “rich and rooted in Black British Caribbean which feels poetic and powerful and often mystical and elusive.” Due out in paperback in February this will continue to win plaudits and attract readers.

6. North Woods – Daniel Mason (John Murray 2023)

Read and reviewed in September

On the surface a tale of a yellow house in Massachusetts woodlands and those who lived there over generations, this intriguing American author with his fifth novel incorporates “songs and ballads, letters, speeches, a true crime column from a pulp magazine, medical case notes, and estate agents details” amongst other forms to support an unpredictable work which is also so rich in the workings of the natural world. It’s original and will certainly stay with me. I said of it “The history and ecology of a location go side by side within this vividly told literary novel.” Lit-Hub’s review of American publications found it on 11 end-of-year best of lists with the Washington Post describing it “a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic.“

In my next post I will reveal the Top 5.

Looking Around…..

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, Books, Uncategorized1 Comment

For my last retrospective post I like to have a look around the blogosphere and see the books which have impressed other bloggers during the last twelve months. I always expect that there is going to be a modicum of consensus and that there would be the odd book which appears on Best Of the Year lists time after time, but this is rarely the case and it certainly is not so for this year when there’s a wide range of books being recommended but not often the same book in more than one list.

I follow around 70 blog sites and one trend I am seeing is that fewer and fewer bloggers seem to want to do this kind of end-of-year retrospective.  Personally, I love it and think it’s important to look back before cracking on with the new year.  So, I am very thankful to those who have reflected and singled out their best reads, despite reluctance to put them into any order.

I would like to think I could find one of my Top 10 books in another blogger’s list but for the second year running I have not been successful in discovering this. (No “Young Mungo”?  I’m staggered!).  In fact, many of the authors I was expecting to see were absent from other lists.  I couldn’t find mentions of these notables who put book out this year- Monica Ali, Hannah Kent, Kamila Shamsie, Ian McEwan, Donal Ryan, Jess Kidd, amazed to see no mentions of Joanna Quinn, whose debut novel “The Whalebone Theatre” felt such a great crowd-pleaser.    

Obviously, with so many books being published each year and bloggers having their own likes, contacts with publishers, different methods of getting the books they reviewed there are just too many great reads out there to provide much overlap.  However, there were three books which I did see cropping up.

One was from an author I did have in my Top 10, so we will start with her, Janice Hallett.  I really loved “The Appeal” but realise I was a bit late out of the blocks with this one and it was her 2022 publication “The Twyford Code” which was getting the nods (although Andrea at Andrea Is Reading did give “The Appeal” an honourable mention.)  Jen at Books on 7.47 did well to sum up the appeal of this author and her “devilishly clever plot that won me over.  A murder mystery that never stops throwing curve balls while giving nostalgic nods throughout.” Fi at Fi’s Bibliofiles says of it; “It manages to hide so many clues in plain sight and is incredibly subtle in its complexity.”  I think both these very well encompass Janice Hallett and I feel that what this author does to her readers is actually quite difficult to put into words.  Like me, Books On 7.47 has the new novel “The Mysterious Case Of The Alperton Angels” on her must read for 2023 list and Fi already had it as one of her favourite books she read in 2022, saving her review until the publication date in January.

Another title which impressed was the winner of the Novel Of The Year at the An Post Irish Book Awards “Trespasses” by Louise Kennedy which conquered over one of my Top 10 Books and previous winner of this award Donal Ryan.  Cathy at 746 Books describes it as being about “a woman caught between allegiance to community and a dangerous passion with an older man.” Karen at Booker Talk describes this debut as “an intense, engrossing tale of how small acts of kindness assume great political significance and put lives at risk.”   The third of these titles which kept popping up I had never heard of.  Australian blogger Kim at Reading Matters singled out “Limberlost” by Robbie Arnott as a tale of “kindness loss, love and family”.  Set in rural Tasmania in World War II, Cathy at 746 Books felt the need to give it a special mention even though she had not finished it at time of writing.  In what seems like an excellent recommendation she said “In a week where I have a lot to do all I wanted to do is read “Limberlost.” That’s good enough for me to put this book on my Want To Read list.  Cathy cannily has three lists of end of year recommendations, one from her To Be Read Pile, one of Irish authors and one of new reads.  Within her new reads picks there is one that I highlighted in my Books I Should Have Read in 2022 post, The Booker shortlisted “The Trees” By Percival Everett, which she feels should have won the Prize as well as “Trust” by Hernan Diaz which was the book that topped the number of US recommendations in Literary Hub’s round up of end of year lists alongside “Tomorrow And Tomorrow And Tomorrow” by  Gabrielle Zevin which was a favourite of Andrea Is Reading. (Andrea also singles out “Happy Go Lucky” by David Sedaris which has a sublimely creepy cover and reminds me yet again that this year should be the year I really crack on with this author’s work.)

I like older titles being incorporated in the lists.  The aforementioned Cathy reminded me of a book I really loved when I read it decades ago- William Trevor’s “Children Of Dynmouth” and I now want to re-read this as well as the copy of his short stories I have on my bookshelves.  There’s also an acknowledgement of the greatness of Larry McMurty’s “Lonesome Dove” which is described as “violent, frightening, funny, heartbreaking and transcends the genre” and which if a certain someone is reading this who has recommended this book to me so many times will no doubt tell me “See, I told you it was good!”

Lynne at Fictionphile picks four titles which all seem highly readable to me – “The Keeper Of Stories”- Sally Pope, “Mrs England”- Stacey Halls, “A Quiet Life” – Ethan Joella and “The Winners” – Frederick Backman.  Matthew at My Mashed Up Life goes for three – the critically acclaimed “Lessons In Chemistry” by Bonnie Garman (I knew I’d find this somewhere), French novel “Heatwave” by Victor Jestin (a tale of tormented adolescence and I do love these) and “How To Kill Your Family” by Bella Mackie, which I have sitting on my Kindle waiting to be read. 

I do love it when people can pick their absolute favourite because their enthusiasm does make me want to read it, even if it wouldn’t normally be on my radar.  Linda at Linda’s Book Bag plumps for “Echoes Of Love” by Jenny Ashcroft which she says “encompasses so many forms of love- and hatred- is authentic in time and place and has such relevance for what is happening in today’s world that I couldn’t fault it” and FictionFan’s Book Reviews ( a site which has given me so much pleasure since before I started reviewsrevues nearly 8 years ago) is so enthusiastic about sixteenth century Scottish set “Rose Nicolson” by Andrew Greig describing it as “one of the outstanding books of my long lifetime of reading” that I don’t know how anyone can avoid putting that onto a must-seek-out-list.

Anyway, I think that’s enough of looking back to 2022 and start to get on with the reading joys 2023 has in store.  Just want to thank these other bloggers for keeping up the good work.  Long may it continue!

Top 10 Books Of The Year 2022 – Part Two – The Top 5

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, Books, Uncategorized2 Comments

Here are my five favourite books that I read in 2022:

5. Once Upon A River – Diane Setterfield (Black Swan 2018)

(Read and reviewed in October)

This is the third novel from a British author I had not read before and what story-telling!  I found this tale of a drowned girl who comes back to life in the 1880s and its setting of a stretch of the Thames between Cricklade and Oxford absolutely captivating.  I said; “It is beautifully rich, imaginative, involving and operates on the thin line between myth and dark reality.  I was spellbound by this book.”  Looking forward to reading more by this author in 2023.

4. The Appeal – Janice Hallett (Viper Books 2021)

(Read and reviewed in January)

I knew I had missed out on something good when I put this book in my “What I Should Have Read in 2021” post.  I had felt it calling me from a table of new titles at Waterstones.  I liked the look of this book, even though it’s not the kind of book I read regularly.  At that time I decided not to merely judge it by its cover but when I saw it in the library in January this year I snapped it up.  It’s clever, funny, and so well structured.  In my review I said “If we are considering this debut in the “Cosy Crime” genre then this is the best “Cosy Crime” book I have ever read.” Her follow-up “The Twyford Code” appeared this year and was good but did not blow me away like this did.  Her new novel “The Mysterious Case Of The Alperton Angels” is out in January.

3. Great Expectations – Charles Dickens (1861)

(Read and reviewed in December)

A re-read but I had left it probably over 40 years.  The plot of this novel feels like it has been with me for the whole of my life, both from the book and film adaptations (apart from the ending which I always have trouble remembering).  In sections this is the best book I have ever read in my life but then there are sections that fall flat making it an uneven gem, but it is still a gem.  Perhaps it is a casualty of the way in which Dickens’ novels first appeared with a certain amount of padding mid-way through to keep the issues coming.  I feel that it should be Dickens’ best work- but it isn’t, but it is up there amongst his very best.  Pip, Miss Havisham, Estella, Joe, Magwitch – what characters!

2. Let’s Do It – Bob Stanley (Faber 2022)

(Read and reviewed in August)

Two books with the same title in my Top 10.  What are the chances?  Luckily, both have subtitles and this one explores “The Birth Of Pop” and it is my non-fiction pick for this year (I think I have to go back to 2010 and Vince Aletti’s “The Disco Files” to find a non-fiction work I have enjoyed as much).  This is a real labour of love and involved so much research for music journalist, founding member of Saint Etienne and DJ Bob Stanley.  Thousands of books have been published about the music industry post-Beatles (the author published a very thorough, critically acclaimed one “Yeah Yeah Yeah” himself about decade earlier – which I am currently reading) but this charts the development of popular music from its very origins to the point where Beatlemania came in.  Pop music is seen as transient and temporary but these developments inform everything that has come afterwards and so is a very important, totally fascinating history.  Beginning with Ragtime and Joplin’s “Maple Leaf Rag” the first million selling sheet music from 1899 he explores the major musical shifts and the major players with insight, humour and with love.  This book had me seeking out all sorts of artists on Spotify.  I felt Bob really knew what he was writing about and was able to convey his views so well and this for me was a real treat.  The Telegraph had this book at number 8 in their Books Of The Year list.

1. Young Mungo – Douglas Stuart (Picador 2022)

(Read and reviewed in April)

Well, this is unprecedented. I’ve never given my Book Of The Year to the same author before and here is Scottish writer Douglas Stuart doing it two years in a row with his first two novels.  “Shuggie Bain” – a Booker Prizewinner (and this would be a serious contender for best ever  Booker winner ever in my view) blew away all the competition for me last year and I do believe that “Young Mungo” is even better. It’s the best book I have read for 5 years.  It wasn’t Booker shortlisted and it didn’t get as much critical approval because some saw it as more of the same, but I really don’t understand that this is a criticism.  Some did get it- It is appearing in a healthy selection of Books Of The Year list – The Telegraph had it at number 34.  Emily Temple at Literary Hub produces an Ultimate Best Books list which counts the number of times books make the end of year lists in American publications and this makes it onto six lists, which earns it an Ultimate nod (the highest 14 was achieved by two novels Hernan Diaz’s “Trust” and Gabrielle Zevin’s ubiquitous “Tomorrow, And Tomorrow, And Tomorrow”).  I said “I never thought I’d feel more sympathy towards a character than Shuggie, but Mungo, with his facial tics, unsuitable attire and devotion to a mother whose actions are consistently poorly-judged tops it.” I also felt “I did finish this feeling emotionally purged finding moments that I did not really want to read on from but ultimately being totally unable to take my eyes off the book.”  That for me represents an ultimate reading experience. Congratulations to Picador for publishing my ultimate favourite two years in a row. Over at Bookshop.org you can find Douglas Stuart’s list of the books which inspired him during the writing of this novel

So, Douglas Stuart makes it onto my Hall of Fame for the second time.  Just for some context here are my other top titles going back to 2008

2022- Young Mungo – Douglas Stuart (2022) (UK)

2021- Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart (2020) (UK)

2020 – The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai (2018) (USA)

2019 – Swan Song – Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (2018) (USA)

2018- The Count Of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (1845) (France)

2017 – The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne (2017) (Ireland)

2016- Joe Speedboat – Tommy Wieringa (2016) (Netherlands)

2015- Alone In Berlin- Hans Fallada (2009 translation of a 1947 novel) (Germany)

2014- The Wanderers – Richard Price (1974) (USA)

2013- The Secrets Of The Chess Machine – Robert Lohr (2007) (Germany)

2012 – The Book Of Human Skin – Michelle Lovric (2010) (UK)

2011 – The Help- Kathryn Stockett (2009) (USA)

2010- The Disco Files 1973-78 – Vince Aletti (1998) (USA)

2009- Tokyo – Mo Hayder (2004) (UK)

2008- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (2007) (Australia)

Special mentions for the five 5* reads which did not make it into the Top 10. In any other year these would have been assured Top 10 places: The Manningtree Witches – A K Blakemore (2021); The Governor’s Lady – Norman Collins (1968) – narrowly missing out on a 3rd successive Top 10 title; Rainbow Milk – Paul Mendez (2020); Miss Hargreaves – Frank Baker (1939); Fire Island – Jack Parlett (2022)

Here’s to some great reading in 2023.

If you missed out on the other books on my Top 10 you can read about them here.

Top 10 Books Of The Year 2022 – Part One (10-6)

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, Books4 Comments

I read 61 books this year which is a bit down on the last couple of years and short of my Good Reads goal of 70.  I retired from paid employment in 2022 and I thought that would mean I would have more time for reading – that obviously hasn’t proved to be the case.  Out of these 61 books, 15 got five star ratings which I think is the highest figure for top ratings I’ve ever given, which made picking the Top 10 from these very worthy books very difficult.  As always, if I’ve read it this year it is included, even if it was published in a previous year, or in the case of one of the titles below, due to be published in 2023.  There are 3 books on the list which were published in 2022, which seems to be the typical figure in these Top 10s. 

So, 61 books, 15 five star ratings, 31 four star reads and also 15 three stars.  59 of these have already been reviewed on the site and they can be found by scrolling through or using one of the two indexes – two titles, including one of the top 10 have not yet had their full reviews appear as I am holding out to nearer to the publication date in January 2023.  I spent quite a considerable time thinking about the books I’d  read this year in forming my Top 10 and once I had assigned positions I felt a little uneasy.  Last year I had a diverse list with a 50-50 gender split, 40% black authors and 30% identifying as LGBT+.  Although the latter figure stays the same there is a drop in both female and black writers (and no black female writers).  In fact, I thought the gender imbalance was unprecedented but this list matches my 2014 choices with which I launched reviewsrevues.com.  I’m not sure whether this is just a blip this year, I must admit some of the big female authored titles did not appeal to me, for example Bonnie Garmus’ “Lessons In Chemistry” was a title I’d had recommended to me and I know it’s one which will feature in many end of year lists but I couldn’t get beyond the very female orientated cover (nor the title actually).  I like to read a balance of books, fiction, non-fiction, newly published and backlisted titles written by a diverse range of authors and this will continue in 2023.  Three of the Top 10 are non-fiction and there are two debut novels and a chunky 50% of the authors have previously featured in my end of year best of lists, which may illustrate that in a year when I have had a lot of upheaval, moving house, relocating to a new area and leaving work I have been more likely to choose authors who have impressed me in the past. 

Here is the first part of the list 10-6.  Don’t be too shocked by the lack of female authors, there is more of a balance in the Top 5.  If you would like to read the full review (and I hope you do as these are the books I want to clamber onto rooftops and shout about) just click on the title.

10. The Queen Of Dirt Island – Donal Ryan (Doubleday 2022)

(Read in July, reviewed in August)

This is Irish author Donal Ryan’s second appearance in my Top 10.  His debut “The Spinning Heart” was my runner-up in 2013.  He has a real skill with characterisation.  In both the books of his which have blown me away he brings a whole community to life.  He is able to establish rich characters in a short space of time and he certainly does this here with his tale of four generations of a family from rural Tipperary.  It is set in the same location and with some of the same characters as “Strange Flowers” which won the Novel Of The Year Awards at the Irish Book Awards.  This was also shortlisted for the same award in 2022 but lost to “Trespasses” by Louise Kennedy.  I think it is a superior companion piece to “Strange Flowers” (and also works fine as a stand-alone).

9. My Revolutions – Hari Kunzru (Penguin 2007)

(Read and reviewed in December)

This is also British writer’s Hari Kunzru’s second appearance in my end of year Top 10, with his 2004 novel “Transmission” making it to number 3 in 2010.  This was perhaps my biggest reading surprise as I wouldn’t have thought this tale of radicalism in late 60’s/ early 70’s England would have appealed.  I was totally captivated by the story-telling and thought it was so rich a novel.  It skipped around in time, which I know some readers do not like but I think it worked really well here and each time-frame was as interesting as the others.  I described it as a book which explores “fighting for what you believe in and how easily idealism can become tainted so that the brave new world once thought possible goes increasingly out of reach.” In terms of scope I felt echoes of Ian McEwan’s 2022 publication “Lessons” but I think this is the stronger novel.

8. Let’s Do It – Jasper Rees (Trapeze 2020)

(Read and reviewed in April)

The authorised biography of Victoria Wood- this is a big book which I knew I was going to like, enough to get me forking out for a hardback edition.  Rees gets the split between the private and public person across so well and this was a big thing for Victoria, who privately was far removed from the bubbly confidence of perhaps the greatest British comedian of all time.  Rees celebrates her as a pioneer, which she undoubtedly was.  I described this as “the definitive biography of Victoria Wood, no one else need bother.”

7. Dickens- Peter Ackroyd (Sinclair Stevenson 1990)

(Read and reviewed in March)

And talking of big books, this was my only 1000+ page read of the year, so thank goodness I loved it.  I suspected I was onto a winner as Ackroyd is my third most read author of all time and has made 6 previous appearances on my End of Year list (although not since 2010).  In fact, I had read this before in an edited edition but this full account of the life of Dickens is the real deal and made a greater impression.  It is just so thorough and really got me wanting to revisit the work of Dickens (as well as more Ackroyd).  It’s not actually the author’s best book- I’ll still give that to “London: The Biography” which was my book of the year in 2002 but it is extremely impressive and in the lengthy time it will take you to read this book (five weeks for me) you will be in the hands of a master biographer.

6. The New Life – Tom Crewe (Chatto & Windus 2023)

(Read in December. To be reviewed)

Advance warning for this outstanding debut which will be published in the UK on 12th January.  The author is a former editor of the London Review Of Books and he puts his literary awareness into play with this Victorian set novel which is described as “a daring new novel about desire and the search for freedom in Victorian England.”  My full review of this will follow in the New Year.  Expect comparisons to  “The Crimson Petal & The White” and “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”- two of my all-time favourites.

I hope this has whetted your appetite for my next post – The Top 5

Looking Around…….

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, Books, New Books, Uncategorized6 Comments

For my last retrospective post, looking back over 2021 I like to have a look around the blogosphere and see the books which have impressed other bloggers during the last twelve months. I always expect that there is going to be a modicum of consensus and that there would be the odd book which appears on Best Of the Year lists time after time, but this is rarely the case and it certainly is not so for this year when there’s a wide range of books being recommended but not often the same book in more than one list.

I can usually find one of my Top 10 books in another blogger’s list but this year I have not been successful in discovering this. I might have thought that it was me, that I was out of touch, or that I’d read the wrong books this year but there are so many lists with no overlaps that I am certainly taking nothing personally!

There’s just a couple of titles I’ve seen appearing more than one list, both feature in the Top 5 of Jen at Books On The 7.47, Yaa Gyasi’s “Transcendent Kingdom” and Torrey Peters’ “Detransition, Baby” . Also on this list is one that I’ve highlighted as wanting to read (on my Looking Forward list for 2020), the Women’s Fiction Prize winning “Piranesi” by Susanna Clarke (I do it have sat on my Kindle waiting for me) as well as the non-fiction 2021 publication from an author I read for the first time this year, Bernardine Evaristo. and her “Manifesto: On Never Giving Up”. Megan Hunter’s “The Harpy” (I’m not sure if I’m thrilled or appalled by the front cover of this one) makes up a good-looking Top 5 here.

There have been a couple of nods to books that have made my Top 10’s in the past. Jessica at The Bookworm Chronicles has one of my former Books Of The Year “The Count Of Monte Cristo“, acknowledging that it took her 3 months to read in her Top 10, Jacqui Wine’s Journal has selected my 2016 #3 “Black Narcissus” by Rumer Godden, Bookish Beck has “Ethan Frome” by Edith Wharton (#7 in my 2014 list) on her Backlist reads and Kim at “Reading Matters” has “The Memory Police” by Yoko Ogawa my 2020 #4 in her list. She also has a couple of books that I read and enjoyed but which didn’t make my Top 10 this year, the Booker Prize winning “The Promise” by Damon Galgut, and “Mrs March” by Virginia Feito. These two are also on the Top 8 New Books list produced by Cathy at 746 Books who also has Ira Levin’s “A Kiss Before Dying” in her Books on her Shelf list. I really loved that when I read it as a teenager and must give that another go, especially as re-reading his “Rosemary’s Baby” was such a good experience. At “Reading Matters” I was also reminded me once again of a book that I’ve wanted it to read since I highlighted it pre-publication back at the start of 2019, Graham Swift’s Brighton Pier set “Here We Are”. There’s also a book from the 1930’s which I haven’t heard of before but which also is acknowledged at Jacqui Wine’s Journal “The Fortnight In September” by R C Sheriff based on a family holiday to Bognor, which sounds like it might be right up my street and worth investigating in 2022.

Margaret at “Books Please” went for another book I really enjoyed which didn’t quite make my Top 10 cut Ambrose Parry’s “Corruption Of Blood“. Also in her list is one which my very good friend and work colleague and Video Blog partner Louise had been recommending I read all this year, (she is always brimming with excellent recommendations as can be seen on our World Book Night YouTube posting which can be found here), I also know this is by Graham Norton’s favourite author, Mary Lawson, and her Booker longlisted “Town Called Solace”.

Many of the bloggers I’ve looked at seem reluctant to pick out their ultimate book of the year. Those that have include Bookish Beck who has gone for “Living Sea Of Waking Dreams” by Richard Flanagan, who I have still never read, Linda’s Book Bag has “Always In December” by Emily Stone, Andrea Is Reading has gone for the book which was also the Daily Telegraph’s Book Of The Year “Crossroads” by Jonathan Franzen, which seems to have generally split those I know who have read it, so it might be The Marmite Book Of The Year (love it or hate it). Fiction Fan’s Book Review’s Literary Fiction pick is Patrick McGrath’s “Last Days In Cleever Square”. There’s a dead heat at “Novel Deelights” between “Wolf Den” by Elodie Harper and “Project Hail Mary” by Andy Weir.

On JacquiWine’s Journal’s aforementioned recommendations there ‘s one from my Books I Should Have Read In 2021 post “Mayflies” by Andrew O’Hagan as well as one I’ve recently bought “Passing” by Nella Larsen which brings back the quandary I am in as to which I should do first, read the 1929 novel or watch the 2021 critically well-received film adaptation which is on Netflix in the UK. Another that is waiting on my Kindle is a book which made Fictionphile’s Top 4, “Last House on Needless Street” by Catriona Ward together with a book the aforementioned Louise has said really gripped her between Xmas and New Year “The Searcher” by Tana French, an author I must certainly investigate this year.

So many links in this post! I think it’s important to link up some of us who are out there promoting great reads at the start of the year. Right, let’s get on with some reading!!

Top 10 Books Of The Year 2021- The Top 5

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, BooksLeave a comment

Happy New Year! I’m celebrating the start of 2022 by having a look back at my favourite reads of 2021. Those I rated between 10 and 6 can be found here. On with the Top 5!

5. The Echo Chamber – John Boyne (Doubleday 2021) (Read and reviewed in July)

No stranger to my end of year Top 10, John Boyne wrote my 2017 book of the year “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” (2017) was runner-up in 2018 with “The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas” (2006) and also made it to 4th that same year with his 2018 “A Ladder To The Sky“. These were all very different books and this biting comic satire was also very much a departure and inspired by social media response of his YA novel “My Brother’s Name Is Jessica“. This is an author who loves to take risks and I like that. Reviews, have unsurprisingly, because it is such a departure, been a little mixed and I can understand why some people have thought this fell short of what they were expecting from Boyne. I however, stand by my description of it as “a great comic novel of our time which should provide a great tonic for these strange times we live in“.

4. Many Different Types Of Love – Michael Rosen (Penguin 2021) (Read and reviewed in March)

This was the best non-fiction work I have read this year. I’m not sure how ready I am to read about the Covid-19 pandemic, it might still be a little too much too soon but I was certainly prepared to make an exception for this collection of prose poems from a writer I very much admire who nearly became a Covid death statistic. His writings on his illness and recovery are interspersed with extracts from a diary those caring for him maintained to show him how much they cared. I said of this “These people were exhausted, often redeployed from their usual job and no doubt stressed beyond belief but they made the time to communicate with this comatose man in this way and these diary entries form an extremely moving section of the book.” There’s much humour in the darkness and when I read this on the anniversary of the first lockdown I felt strongly that; “When we are moaning about lockdown restrictions and posing conspiracy theories it’s important to feel the voice of those affected and Michael Rosen’s experience speaks for the thousands who have been similarly affected and for those thousands we have lost.” This was a title I had highlighted from the start of the year and I did think it would end up as one of the year’s biggest sellers, with numbers comparable to Adam Kay. This hasn’t happened which suggests that maybe we are not all totally ready for this yet but it will be a lasting testament both to the man and the times in which we have been living.

3. The Vanishing Half – Brit Bennett (Dialogue 2020) (Read and reviewed in June)

Here’s one I kept flagging up before I got round to reading it. I featured it in my “What I Should Have Read In 2020” post and in my “Looking Around” post so I was building up the expectations. It delivered. Two twin girls escape their small time life for a new home in New Orleans. One eventually returns to her home town whilst the other is “passing” as a white woman in a decades-spanning saga. I felt that “There are so many discussion points in this novel regarding identity that one might expect it to feel issue-driven but no, plot and characterisation are both very strong and that together with its immersive readability provides an extremely impressive rounded work.” Over the past year I’ve selected it for reading groups and have recommended it probably more than any other book. I always ask what people think of it and it’s always a thumbs up- however, there are often reservations voiced about the ending, and I do agree with them.

2. The Prophets – Robert Jones Jnr (Quercus 2021) (Read and reviewed in January)

An astonishing debut. When I read it I was convinced that this would be my book of the year and posted it within my “100 Essential Books” strand. It’s a book which has got the odd nod from awards committees but hasn’t swept the board winning awards as I had expected it to. I was convinced a Booker nomination would be assured but it was not even longlisted. The paperback is expected in the UK in late January and hopefully this will generate the serious sales this book deserves. I said this slave plantation-set novel “could very well become a contender for the twenty-first century Great American novel.” Don’t just believe me, check out the Amazon reviews where it has 61% five star and 22% 4 star which is excellent going for a book which is demanding, poetic and at times overwhelming. Extraordinary.

1. Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart (Picador 2020) (Read and reviewed in April)

2020 was the year that the Booker Prize judges got it exactly right. I’d become a little wary after the year they awarded it to “Lincoln In The Bardo” (I must stop harping on about that!). I featured this in my “What I Should Have Read In 2020” but this year this book’s reputation has continued to grow as more and more people have fallen in love with it. It’s another I’ve selected for reading groups throughout the year and admittedly, some people are never going to give it a go, put off by its working class Glasgow 1980’s setting but those who do generally praise it to the skies. And deservedly so, as this study of a relationship between Shuggie and his mother has provided us with two of the most memorable characters in modern fiction. I said “It’s gritty and raw but at its heart is an incredible beauty and humanity which even when the reader is dabbing away tears of sadness, frustration or laughter is life-affirming.”  I cannot wait for this Scottish author’s second novel “Young Mungo” which is due in April. This is the first time in nine years I have awarded my Book Of The Year to a UK writer. Douglas Stuart deserves his place in my own special Hall Of Fame. Here are my other top titles going back to 2008.

2021- Shuggie Bain – Douglas Stuart (2020) (UK)

2020 – The Great Believers – Rebecca Makkai (2018) (USA)

2019 – Swan Song – Kelleigh Greenberg-Jephcott (2018) (USA)

2018- The Count Of Monte Cristo – Alexandre Dumas (1845) (France)

2017 – The Heart’s Invisible Furies – John Boyne (2017) (Ireland)

2016- Joe Speedboat – Tommy Wieringa (2016) (Netherlands)

2015- Alone In Berlin- Hans Fallada (2009 translation of a 1947 novel) (Germany)

2014- The Wanderers – Richard Price (1974) (USA)

2013- The Secrets Of The Chess Machine – Robert Lohr (2007) (Germany)

2012 – The Book Of Human Skin – Michelle Lovric (2010) (UK)

2011 – The Help- Kathryn Stockett (2009) (USA)

2010- The Disco Files 1973-78 – Vince Aletti (1998) (USA)

2009- Tokyo – Mo Hayder (2004) (UK)

2008- The Book Thief – Markus Zusak (2007) (Australia)

Special mentions for the three five star reads which did not make it into the Top 10. “Next Of Kin” by Kia Abdullah (2021) just missing out on two consecutive Top 10 recommendations by the narrowest of margins, Bryan Washington’s “Memorial” (2021) and “Love After Love” by Ingrid Persaud (2020).

Here’s to some great reading in 2022.

Top 10 Books Of The Year 2021- Part One (10-6)

On By philshanklinIn 100 Essential, Books, Uncategorized1 Comment

So, here we go, time to look back on another strange year to see which books made the greatest impression upon me in 2021.  This Top 10 is not just based upon books published this year. (3 out of the 10 were, which seems to be par for the course as that has been the same proportion for the last couple of years). If I read it during 2021 it is up for inclusion.

This year I read 64 books which is a typical figure but a bit down on my Good Reads goal of 70. Like last year 13 books have made the five star rating level, which means once again that some of my five star reads will not make it onto my Top 10 of the Year. There were 28 four star reads and 23 books I rated three stars. Like last year there was nothing I rated below three stars. I think with all this reviewing experience I’m less likely to choose to read duff books. Gender-wise, my Top 10 has a 50-50 split. It is perhaps a more diverse list than previous years with 40% black authors and 30% identifying as LGBT+ Like last year there are two non-fiction titles and like last year they are broadly speaking, autobiographical. Three of the authors have featured in previous year Top 10’s. There are two debut novels.

Right, here is the first part of the list, numbers 10-6.  If you would like to read the full review (and I hope you do as these are the books I’m really prompting you to find out more about) just click on the title.

10. Bond Street Story – Norman Collins (Collins 1959) (Read and reviewed in July)

Good luck with finding this one as like nearly all of this British author’s (1907-82) work it seems to be out of print. It’s the second year in a row for Collins and even though this is not quite up there with last year’s #2 read “London Belongs To Me” (which is more readily available as a Penguin Modern Classics) this tale of lives in a London Department store, the family who own it, the staff who work there is still a captivating read. I’m going to be on the look-out for more Collins to read next year. Perhaps some enterprising publisher could commemorate the 40th anniversary of his death by re-publishing more of his work.

9. Goodnight Mister Tom – Michelle Magorian (Puffin 1981) (Read and reviewed in May)

I took advantage of this children’s classic’s 40th anniversary reprint to read this for the first time. I know this is a special book for many people, in my day job at the library we often get adults requesting it to read to their children and I think it is now established as an important book in children’s fiction. I said of it; “It was one of those books where my vague ideas about it had cemented into what I believed was fact but I was often wrong.  I knew it was a tearjerker but what I had always thought occurred never actually happens.  The twists and turns of the plot were quite a revelation for me.” If you’ve never read it I urge you to seek it out, if you have read it you will know you probably want to read it again.

8.The Whites – Richard Price (Bloomsbury 2015) (Read and reviewed in February)

I’ve now read two Richard Price books and both have made it on to the Top 10, this is another under-rated author. His 1974 debut “The Wanderers” was my 2014 Book Of The Year and 41 years later he is still churning out gems. The title refers to those who have got away with murder which obsess a group of NYPD members past and present. It’s hard-boiled American crime, which I don’t always go for but characterisation here is so strong. Stephen King summed it up perfectly when he described this book as “grim, gutsy and impossible to put down.”

7. Dreamgirls: My Life As A Supreme – Mary Wilson (Arrow 1987) (Read in January posted in February)

This was a re-read of a book I have read I have read a couple of times before but not for years. I think it is one of the best showbusiness autobiographies, with just the right balance of career and private life and the career is extraordinary. It was written alongside ghost-writers Patricia Romanowski and Ahrgus Juilliard but benefits because Mary was a keen diarist and that ability to access details is evident. Tragically, on the day I set aside to post this review the news was announced that Mary had suddenly died (authors and publishers, don’t let this put you off asking for books to be reviewed, the two events are not related!) I did wonder whether that would result in this book being given a new lease of life but that has not happened.

6. Sing, Unburied, Sing- Jesmyn Ward (Bloomsbury 2017) (Read and reviewed in August)

Critically acclaimed in her homeland. Mississippi resident Jesmyn Ward made history with this book when she became the first Black American writer as well as the first woman to win a second National Book Award for fiction. This is a powerful, haunting read. I described it as “a Southern-set contemporary novel enriched with the rhythms and the sense of folklore, rhythms, spiritual beliefs and history of the community”. The reason why this had such a powerful effect on me as a reader is due to the quality of the writing and story-telling which really drew an initially resistant me in.

Next post: The Top 5

Looking Around….

On By philshanklinIn Uncategorized6 Comments

It’s time for my final retrospective of the year where, as I have done the last couple of years, I take a look at other bloggers end of year posts to see what books have really caught their imagination. There seems to be an acknowledgement that reading habits changed this year – some went through spates of not reading much at all and had periods of time when they whizzed through books. Some read less new fiction than normal and re-read more, but that might have had something to do with bookshops being closed for part of the year. There seems to be a much wider range of recommended books, with very few cropping up on more than a couple of lists.

One book which is making regular appearances is the winner of the 2020 Women’s Fiction prize, a title which I highlighted as one of the books I wanted to read but never got round to and that is Maggie O’Farrell’s “Hamnet” which nets the runner-up place at Random Book Reviews, third place at A Little Book Problem and also amongst the favourites of Booker Talk– enough recommendations to inch this up my to-be-read list.

One of the things I look for are common ground seeing who has enjoyed the same books as me. The only one I found from my 2020 Top 10 was Kiley Read’s Such A Fun Age which Cathy at 746 Books also highlights it saying “not what I was expecting at all….incredibly smart and funny“. She also has me adding a couple of books to my reading list – one I was aware of anyway and one which was new to me. “Tyll”, by Daniel Keldmann, in a translation by Ross Benjamin, was shortlisted for the 2020 International Booker Prize and in its original German was reputedly the second best-selling novel in the world in 2006. It’s taken a long time to get over here and Cathy’s observation that it is a joyous mix of fact and bawdy fiction makes it seem an even more tempting prospect. Her book of the year is “Train Dreams” by Denis Johnson, a book which when she finished it, immediately started from the beginning again. It’s a novella, which I have been sniffy about in the past, maybe this could be the book to warm me to this format .

A book which just missed out on my Top 10, although the author has featured on it before is Chris Whitaker’s “We Begin At The End” . It is the choice of best book for Eva at Novel Deelights. I interviewed Chris a couple of times after his debut novel “Tall Oaks” was published and I really loved his second “All The Wicked Girls“. I said that I felt that British author Chris could have a crack at producing the Great American Novel, there are some this year, perhaps Eva included, who would say that he has already done this with his third book. Also on Novel Deelights list is the author who, probably more than other, people suggest I should read and that is Frederick Backman. Here it is his latest “Anxious People” which is being recommended and that did appear in a few other lists. I do have a copy of “Bear Town” on my Kindle, which is the one people say I should start with, so maybe in 2021 I will develop my own admiration for this author. Other titles that I have in common with bloggers include the gripping (but I think the follow-up was better) “Nine Elms” by Robert Bryndza which is on Fictionphile’s separate crime list, “A Thousand Moons” by Sebastian Barry highlighted by Margaret at Books Please (here I preferred his previous novel) and the book which gave a voice to the victims of Jack The Ripper, Hallie Rubenhold’s “The Five” recommended by Lou at Random Book Reviews.

Bookish Beck had the Booker Prize shortlisted “Real Life” by Brandon Taylor at number 5 on her list. This also impressed me and just missed out on my Top 10, Beck makes comparisons thematically and linguistically to Virginia Woolf which I must admit passed me by although I was moving towards that direction looking back at my review as I said “Although this is most definitely a highly detailed contemporary novel this attention to detail and constant internalising gives the characters a closer feel to a Victorian novel- say the works of Henry James or Jane Austen even though it is a modern campus work.” So I was on the right lines, maybe this is a book which would benefit from a re-read at some point. Bookish Beck also had another strong contender for the Top 10, “Memorial Drive” by Natasha Trethewey in her runners up list and her number one choice was another author who has been recommended to me, Evie Wyld. “Bass Rock” is the choice here and its coastal setting and “elegant time-blending structure” haunted the imagination.

As always there were recommendations I had to add to my wants list- Jen at Books On The 7.47 captured my imagination with Cathy Rentzenbrink “Dear Reader” – a book about books which gave her loads of recommendations and was like “having a great chat with a bookish friend”.

Booker Talk’s recommendation of Lemn Sissay’s “My Name Is Why” and A Little Book Problem’s runner-up “Where The Crawdads Sing” have both been on my radar since publication and I just might give another go to Joseph Conrad whose “Nostromo” was Fiction Fan’s Book Of The Year, when I read Conrad I was much younger and couldn’t get on with him at all, maybe age and experience would change that.

A book from my “What I Should Have Read in 2020” list has been confirmed as a book I have so far really missed out with Books On The 7.47 saying it was “almost impossible to stop reading” and in the runners-up list from Bookish Beck, but I must admit it was one that I thought I would see on a lot more end-of-year lists and that is “The Vanishing Half” by Brit Bennett. Perhaps its inevitable arrival in paperback this year and people like me who recently managed to pick up as a Kindle read for 99p will spread the word and it may appear on more (and perhaps my own) best books read in 2021 choices.